


Questioning

by spiritedWinters



Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-05
Updated: 2013-04-06
Packaged: 2017-12-07 12:53:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/748722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spiritedWinters/pseuds/spiritedWinters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a new kid in school, going by the name of Eridan Ampora. He's a hipster douchebag from the grand island of... somewhere. All you know is that it's out in the Pacific somewhere. And Sollux Captor, having recently been dumped, is most certainly not interested.<br/>He's not even gay.<br/>Erisol humanstuck~</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Sollux watched the new guy from a distance, trying to judge his characteristics. He was wearing glasses, although they weren’t tinted, like Sol’s. He was also wearing a scarf. Indoors. In school.

How the hell did he get away with that?  
He was sitting next to FF, the girl always dressed in pink and green, and appeared to be talking to her quite a bit. Class would start in five minutes. He hated this guy already.

The next thing he noticed was those jeans. Good Lord, those jeans. They were striped blue and black, and they were /tight/. 

That ass was gorgeous. 

Sollux tore his eyes away as the teacher entered the room. The eye candy was off-limits. At least for now.

“Hello,” the teacher nodded at them, adjusting the neck of his red sweater and beginning to scrawl something on the whiteboard. “Today we’ll be talking about the caste system in medieval Anglo-Hungary.” 

Sollux immediately tuned out. Mr. Vantas could talk his heart out. Who cared about caste systems anymore?

Besides, there were other things to think about. Like how the prettyboy was letting his hand linger out by the side of his desk. And how it was quickly caught by FF’s.

What in the eternal, everlasting fuck.

Sollux fixed his eyes on Mr. Vantas, watching him as his eyes closed, delving deeper into medieval history. That guy was a fucking wonder. He could lecture all day without breaking a sweat.

“…which would bring the order down around their ears, but the peasantry was bound to take a stand. The royalty would often kill off one of the lower class just to make sure they wouldn’t try to rise up…”

The pretty boy’s hand shot up, and Mr. Vantas looked at him, surprised that he was even paying attention.

“Mr… Ampora?”

“Yeah. I was wonderin’ how come the peasants couldn’t just accept that they were lower castes and move on?”

“Well, Mr. Ampora…” Sollux tuned out again, trying to figure out the accent he had just heard. It sounded almost… wavy. Like his tone was going up and down. It was also kind of British. The distinguished kind. 

Weird.

After class, he walked over to FF’s desk immediately. “Who was that new-ass kid?”

“His name’s Eridan. He just moved here from some island out in Polynesia. Try to be nice.”

“Why? He looks like a hipster.”

“What’s wrong with that? I think he’s nice.”

“You were holding hands.”

“He’s been my friend for years. Of course we were. We’ve been pen pals since I was in 6th grade.”

“Oh.” That was a relief. “Well… good.”

“Why good?”

Sollux blushed. “You know why good.”

“Yeah,” Feferi laughed. “I do.” After a moment of awkward silence, she added, “It’s still over, though, Sollux. I’m sorry. But it’s over.”

“All right, I guess.” His lisp was hard to contain, but he managed it. “See you later, FF.”

The hipster newbie was out in the hallway, leaning against a locker and reading a book. Sollux took a moment to stare at him. 

“School’s over, and you’re reading a book. Who the hell are you?”

“Eridan Ampora.” The guy grinned. Holy fuck, that was an adorable smile. “And you might be?”

“S-Sollux. Captor. I think you know my… friend. FF.”

“FF?” Eridan repeated, a puzzled expression on his face. 

“Feferi. Feferi Peixes.”

“Oh, yeah. You know her?”

“She was my girlfriend…” Sollux trailed off, unsure. “It ended a few days ago.”

“That’s why she’s so clingy…” Eridan mused. “But I’m not really interested.”

“Why not?”

“Not really my type. My type is a bit more… male.”

“Seriously?” Sollux stared at him, a bit in awe of his being so open about it.

“Yeah. Is that a lisp I detect?”

“Oh, shut up.” Sollux groaned, although he suspected Eridan was just trying to draw attention away from his sexuality.

“It /is/. That’s so cute!” Eridan’s eyes crinkled, which was kind of distracting. 

Nope. Sollux was one straight motherfucker. He was straight.

He was straight, dammit.

“I’m more into guyth too,” he heard himself saying, his lisp fully pronounce now out of nervousness.

“Well, isn’t that somefin.”

“Somefin?”

Eridan blushed, his cheeks dusting pink. “It’s my accent. Ignore it.”

“And you think my lisp’s cute.” Sollux smirked slightly. “That accent is even better.”

“Yeah, yeah. Uh… out of mild curiosity, can I have your number?”

Sollux felt his cheeks grow hot. “Yeah, sure.” He dug a piece of paper out of his backpack and scrawled seven digits on it. “Give me a call sometime.”

“Definitely. I’ll need another dose of lisp.”

“What if I hide it until you hang up?”

“Then I won’t ask you out.”

“Hey!” He blushed even more, amazed at what he had somehow gotten himself into. 

“Well, it’s cute.”

“Ugh… fine.” Sollux shrugged his backpack onto his back. “I expect a call tonight, okay?”

“You got it.” Eridan waved at him and disappeared into the throng of students.


	2. Chapter 2

Sollux set his pencil down, laying his head on his notebook. This was pathetic. Math, he could do. Science, easy. But stupid English assignments?

What the heck was he supposed to do, write?  
He wondered casually if Eridan, the new guy, would call tonight. Probably not. It had been two days, and still no word. Tomorrow was Saturday, so no chance of seeing him, either. 

He sat up and pulled his laptop towards him tiredly, shoving his English notebook aside. At least he could work on some coding for extra credit in computer sciences. That, he was good at. 

He was barely five minute in when his phone began buzzing on the table, an unfamiliar number on-screen. Probably a scam, but then again…

“Hello?” 

“Hey.” Damn that accent. It nearly sent shivers down his spine.

What the fuck was wrong with him? “What’s up? You took your time calling.”

“Yeah, lost the number in my backpack.” An embarrassed chuckle emanated from the phone. “I was wondering if… uh… well, are you busy tomorrow?”

“Besides homework that needs to be blown off anyways? Nah.” Sollux felt his heartbeat jump a bit. Was the new guy really going to ask him out?

Why had he even told him he was gay? He wasn’t gay. He was 100% straight. There was not a chance in hell he could fall for a guy.

“Well…” another embarrassed chuckle. “I know I /just/ met you, but… is there a chance we could go do something? Catch a bite to eat, or even just check out a park or something? I don’t exactly know the area well, so it would be a chance to find places…”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Sollux internally cursed himself. He couldn’t go out on a date with the new guy. “Can I have your address? We’ll just go on a walk or something, roundabout to the burger joint… or something,” he finished awkwardly, already regretting this. 

“Oh, right.” Eridan rattled off an address, which Sollux quickly copied down, despite himself. “Can you be here at six?”

“Definitely. You need anything else?” Why was he smiling?

And what the hell was that feeling in his stomach?

He was not gay, dammit.

———————————

“Hey,” Eridan’s face was the first thing Sollux saw as he rounded the corner. “I thought I’d save you the trouble and be waiting here.”

“Oh, hey, ED. Can I call you that?” Sol asked nervously.

“I don’t see why not. What’s with you and the two-letter thing?”

“I dunno. I like doubles of things. And it’s shorter.”

“Do you mind if I call you Sol, then? I kinda like monosyllabic nicknames.”

“Now that’s a word to get you credit in English,” Sollux laughed. “But yeah, that’s fine.”

“Oh, good. So… where to?” Eridan smiled nervously, and Sollux shrugged. 

“I gueth we could thee if the… oh, god.” He winced. “Let me try that over. I guess we could see if the park’s open.”

“Hey.” Eridan shook his head. “Don’t correct the lisp. I like it. It’s adorable.”

“It is not.” He made a face. “It sounds stupid.” He started walking in the direction of the park, already knowing it would be open. It was a good half a mile away, but it was completely worth it.

Eridan was wearing skinny jeans again.

“Don’t those, like, hurt your legs?” The slightly shorter boy questioned, ambling along at an extremely slow pace. “They look so tight.”

“You get used to them,” ED shrugged, running a hand down the jeans. “I mean, they’re a bit hard to walk in at first, but they stretch out.”

“It doesn’t look like they do,” Sol muttered, trying to keep his eyes away from Eridan’s rear. 

They walked a few blocks in silence, Eridan scanning the buildings, Sollux just thinking, wondering how the hell he got into this. 

“Hey Sol?” Eridan’s accent floated over from a storefront window, where he was peering in interestedly. It was a costume shop, the type with mannequins modeling several different garments in the windows. Eridan had his nose close to the glass, viewing one wearing a royal purple cape. “Look at this thing. It’s so cool.”

“Why do you need a cape?”

Eridan peeled his face away and smirked at Sollux. “To hide my ass from people who can’t stop starin’ at it, for one.”

Sollux blushed, pushing his glasses up on his nose. “I wasn’t staring.”

“You were totally starin’,” ED teased. 

“Oh, shut up.”

“Yessir, your majesty.” Eridan saluted. “Seriously, though, can we go in there to check the price on that fucker?”

Sollux shrugged and pushed open the door, holding it for the taller male, who grinned at him and rushed in, immediately finding a duplicate of the cape and swirling it onto his shoulders. “What do you think?” he grinned, flipping up the top so that it ended above his ears, making him look slightly vampirical. Which probably wasn’t a word, now that Sollux thought about it. Oh well.

“It’s cool,” he shrugged. “I wouldn’t wear it around, though.”

To his complete astonishment, Eridan immediately walked over to a mirror, posed a few times, and after blowing himself a kiss (asshole), walked over to a cash register, pulled out a credit card, and purchased the cape. He walked back over to Sollux, smirking.

“Now you can’t watch my ass while we’re walkin’. I doubt I’ll get too many strange glances, this is a weird town anyways.” 

Sollux felt himself blushing again, and turned away to hide it. “Come on, dickwad. I thought we were going to the park.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go, asshole.” Eridan grinned, twirling around so his cape flapped around like crazy. “Before you decide to buy one of these too.”


	3. Chapter 3

Sollux motioned Eridan through the gate and into the small park, following closely behind him. “How long do you want to stick around here?”

“Until I get hungry,” Eridan laughed, twirling again. His primary interest appeared to be in his cape, of which Sol was starting to get slightly jealous. 

What the fuck.  
“And when will that be, idiot?” Sollux called, and Eridan rolled his eyes. 

“How should I know? I’m not hungry. Just go with it. C’mon, let’s walk.” Eridan weaved his arm through Sol’s and tugged him along. There was a slight breeze, enough to make the stupid purple cape flutter in the wind, something which Sollux thoroughly enjoyed, as it gave him a moment to glance at the choice rear somehow stuffed into those striped skinny jeans. 

“Will you slow down, asshole? The park’s still gonna be here in an hour.”

“How do you know? Meteors could start rainin’ down and blow up everything. We need to see everything. Just in case.”

“Well, then thlow down to /thee/ it.” Sollux rolled his eyes and stopped walking, forcing Eridan to stop as well, as they were still linked at the elbow. “Take a bit of time. Otherwise you’ll miss the reason this park is so cool. Look at the flowers, for one.”

Eridan looked downwards, rolling his eyes, but before long a smile began to creep onto his face. “Look at those two,” he grinned, motioning to a pair of pansies. They were gold with purple splotches, and they were tangled together, like they had just grown into a natural flower-hug, or something like that. 

“What about them?”

“Those are my favorite colours,” Eridan grinned, kneeling down to get a better view. “And they’re so… they could be human. See, they’re fuckin’.”

“They are not fucking! They’re hugging!” Sol laughed, kneeling beside him. “Flowers don’t fuck.”

“But they look like people. And they really should. It would be extremely entertainin’.”

“Okay, yeah, it would.” Sol shrugged, chuckling. “Come on, weirdo. Let’s get you away from the fucking flowers.”

Eridan laughed aloud and stood up, taking Sollux’s hand.

Sol nearly gasped at the unfamiliar sensation. There was a rough-yet-smooth, slender-yet-large hand in his own. His awkward, lanky digits felt so… incompetent. He didn’t say anything for fear of ruining it, just stood up alongside the taller male, kind of wondering what he should do. Run? Squeeze his hand? Kiss him? 

… run?

The answer appeared to be walk over the little wooden bridge that somehow appeared over the creek in the middle of the park a few years ago, saving everyone the trouble of jumping the two feet to get over. A pity, really. It had been far more fun to jump over. But at least this way they could watch the water pass from directly over it. Eridan sat down on the middle of the bride, and Sollux joined him, although he practically had to sit in the other’s lap to manage this. Eridan splashed the toe of his Converse in the water, sending droplets directly into the slight breeze, and thus landing them directly on Sol’s jeans.

“Hey!” he protested, but Eridan just did it again, getting him even wetter. “You know I have to walk in these, right?”

“Of course I know.” ED grinned, squeezing Sol’s hand and causing him to forget entirely about the wet jeans.

He was not gay. No. Bad Sollux. 

… well, maybe he was. He’d have to look into this further. This was better than whatever he had felt with FF, at least.

So that’s where the legendary sparks were.

Sollux stood up quickly, brushing his hands on his jeans, trying to keep from shivering. This dickwad shouldn’t be able to make him feel like this.

But as soon as he had stood up, Eridan’s hand was back in his, and he was squeezing it, already halfway determined to never let him go again. This pompous foreigner was his, dammit. 

Well, almost. Not quite yet. “Tho you ready to go eat?” he managed to stutter out, lisp obvious and uncontrolled. 

“Yeah, I’m ready whenever you are.” Eridan smiled at the lisp. Or Sollux hoped it was at the lisp. Or hoped that it wasn’t. He wasn’t sure.

“There’s a burger joint a few blocks from my place. We could stop there and then head back over to where I live, my folks are out,” Sollux offered half-heartedly, sure Eridan would say no.

“That sounds great!” the stupid islander looked like he was about to jump for joy. “I have to be back home at midnight, though. Curfew, since I’m a guest.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Sol shrugged, starting to pull him out of the park. The taller boy stopped to laugh at the fucking flowers once more, pulling a small purple flower out of the ground and tucking it behind his ear before continuing. “You know you look ridiculous, right ED?”

“I look fantastic.” Eridan shrugged the comment off, beaming. “Come on, let’s go before someone sees me.”


	4. Chapter 4

Sollux shook his head. “No way. I’m paying for this. Didn’t you just move here? You can’t pay for stuff yet.”

“Sure I can. It’s my treat for a hot boy who has so courteously continued to stare at my butt the whole evenin’. What more could a guy want?”  
“Well, you’re still coming back to my place, right?”

“Obviously. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Eridan smiled, leaning his arm on the table.

Sollux gulped, hopefully not too obviously. Was he supposed to take it? Was he supposed to pay, or let Eridan? What the hell was he supposed to do?

“Waiter!” Eridan answered this for him. “Can we have the check, please?”

The taller boy then proceeded to pay for the meal, and once the two had left the booth, take Sol’s hand, causing his cheeks to flame up, and Eridan to chuckle at the bright red coloration. “What’s the matter? Nervous?”

“You wish,” Sollux replied, squeezing his hand and feeling overly brave for the motion. It brought a smile to Eridan’s face, and a shiver ran through Sol’s whole body.

He was absolutely gay, or at least for Eridan, he was. He was completely, totally gay for Eridan Ampora.

On the walk back to his house, Sollux somehow managed to convince Eridan to let him wear the cape, and it changed hands with ease.

“Sol, you look like a dork,” Eridan laughed. 

“I bet you’d look worse in my glasses,” Sol retorted, taking them off and switching them with Eridan’s, then chuckling at the result. “You do look like a dork. Or that could just be my vision. What’s with your glasses?”

“No lenses.” Eridan shrugged. “I don’t really need glasses.”

“That’s why it feels so weird.” Sollux poked his finger through the frames, then rolled his eyes and stole his glasses back. “What’s the point of wearing glasses you don’t need to wear?”

“It’s high fashion,” Eridan said, getting a bit of Sollux, something he had done several times already, making Sol think that maybe he actually /liked/ getting his rear stared at. 

“More like you’re a hipster douchebag,” Sollux swatted at him, earning a blush (finally) from Eridan. He jerked his head towards the next driveway on the street. “There’s my place.”

It wasn’t exactly a big house. No, actually, it would probably be considered tiny, by some standards. (Or all of them.) There was an old Sedan outside, looking a bit beat up, and there was an actual, honest to god CLOTHESLINE. Eridan looked at Sollux, his eyes questioning.

“This house?”

“Yeah.” Sollux felt his cheeks grow warm, and he stepped in front of Eridan. “M-maybe we shouldn’t go to my house. It’th a bit of a meth.” He grimaced at his lisp, but ED just shrugged.

“What does it matter if it’s messy? My house is way too clean most of the time.”

Sol shrugged. “I don’t know… okay, come on.” He walked up the driveway, trying not to draw attention to the random computer parts scattered in the garage, or the skateboard sitting on the fence, complete with stupid blue-and-red helmet his older brother had obviously forgotten about. At least they had gotten the door fixed from where Tuna had smashed into it the other day in a flying rage. 

Eridan pushed the door open, and Sollux grimaced at the mess inside. “At least there’s nobody home. Shit, I’m so sorry for the disaster area I call my house.”

“It’s fine.” ED laughed as Sol walked in, hastily shoving stuff off of the couch and away from the TV (the only truly clean part of the house). “So… what do you want to do?”

“We could turn on a movie or something. Play a game. I don’t care.”

“Movie sounds good. I’m gettin’ a bit tired. What have you got to watch?”

“Indiana Jones?” Sol suggested half-heartedly. Eridan grinned. 

“That’s the fuckin’ /best/! Let’s do it.” The taller boy practically jumped onto the couch as Sol stuck the DVD in, an eyebrow quirked in amusement. As the previews began to play, he sat beside Eridan, feeling him slowly begin to lean against his shoulder.

That shouldn’t feel so good. That /really/ shouldn’t feel so good.

The movie passed in a blur of explosions, impossible escapes, and hot, passionate kissing between Jones and whatever traitor girl he had managed to wrangle. Sometime in the middle Eridan had managed to get an arm around Sol’s shoulders, and the tension was almost impossible to stand by the end. It might just have been him, though.

No, apparently it wasn’t. Jones defeated the villain and got the girl, and Sollux switched the movie off. Or… tried to. His vision was suddenly blocked by Eridan’s face, his hands tingling as he felt lips press against his own, soft and slightly chapped. 

He immediately froze up, thoughts swirling in his head. Should he kiss back? Should he push him away? Close his eyes? What?

Eridan pulled away before he could decide, a slightly sad look in his face. “Sorry, Sol. I didn’t mean to- do you want me to leave?”

“No, don’t leave. Please. That was… unexpected. But… but nice.” He grimaced at his wording, biting his lip, a habit he was /sure/ he had broken years ago. “I-I really like you, okay? I mean, that’th obviouth, right?” 

“I know.” Eridan began to smile. “And I you.”

“I know.” Sollux repeated the (probably) older boy’s words, turning to press his forehead against the other’s, taking a long breath to steady himself and leaning in the rest of the way, finding lips beneath his own and pressing against them, his eyes sliding shut of their own accord.

A second later, he felt those same lips begin to respond to him, as a hand reached up to cup his cheek. After a few moments, Eridan pulled away, positively beaming.

“We should do this again.”

“I know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, I'm posting fast because it's going straight from my tumblr onto here. This is utter bullshit, I'm so sorry.


	5. Chapter 5

His lisp was coming back, and it was bad. It was really fucking bad. 

“Eridan fucking Ampora I thwear to god or whatever the fuck deity is even out there if there ith one that I will fucking murder your ath if you don’t thtop acting tho fucking gay.”  
“But you love it,” Eridan smirked, kissing him in a way that had grown to be totally normal by now. 

Yeah, he did love it. But there was no way in hell he would tell ED that. “ED, will you get off of me? I have thchool to do, and you’re not helping, and my fucking lithp came back, and it thucks balls.”

“I already told you that I like the lisp.” He sat down, running a hand through his hair. “So… I was thinking. Maybe purple’s getting a bit boring, huh?”

“You? Bored with purple? Pleathe tell me you’re not jutht fucking with me.” He took a long breath, then kept talking, getting the lisp back under control. “Besides, what would you do without your beautiful-as-shit purple streak?”

“I was thinking redying it. Maybe a couple of colours, actually.” He smirked, and Sollux blinked, feeling his cheeks heat up. ED couldn’t really be considering…

“Such as?”

“Red and blue. What else?”

He felt a blush start to descend upon him, and he held out a hand for Eridan, which the taller boy took with a small smirk. “That would be amazing.”

Suddenly, a low buzzing started to emanate from the region of Eridan’s rear, and he pulled a phone from his back pocket (how the fuck did he fit that thing in there? Those jeans were fucking tight) and began texting almost immediately. His face had lit up in a tiny grin.

“Who’th that?” Sollux winced. Fucking lisp. “Who’s that, I mean.”

“Just a friend,” Eridan replied absentmindedly, shoving the phone back in his back pocket.

Sol didn’t press too much. The sea-dweller probably had friends all over the world. It wasn’t really his business anyways.

“So, when’s this potential dye job of yours?” He asked instead, slumping onto the couch and sprawling out there.

“In a week, or as soon as I can get the purple bleached out. Shouldn’t take long at all.”

Sollux pulled the lanky boy down into his arms, grinning. “You’re just the best thing… how about you don’t move back to that stupid island of yours. Just stay here with me. Okay?”

“Okay,” Eridan nodded, sprawling on top of him for a second.

Bzzt. There it was again, and ED pulled out his phone. Sollux could just barely see the screen from his position underneath him, enough to read the name of the person he was texting.

Karkat Vantas.

Huh. Weird name, that. Not much worse than Sollux or Eridan, though, so he couldn’t really complain.

“Who’s this joker? Car-cat? Where’s he even from?”

“Karkat happens to be a good friend of mine,” ED replied snootily, pressing the back of his head into Sol’s shoulder. “He was the first person to talk to me here, besides Fef.”

“Good to know, not really. What does he look like?”

“He’s short, albino… kind of adorable.”

“Albino? Really?”

“Yeah. And he’s got this constant bed-head look going on, and he always wears black and grey, like he’s defying the world by refusing to show any colour at all…”

“Dude, you sound like you have a crush on him. I get it.” Sol rubbed his face into the deep brown hair beside him, rolling his eyes. 

“I do not!” Eridan chuckled, turning his head to kiss the uncomfortable (for reasons) boy beneath him. Sol shoved him upwards, trying to get him off without much success.

“ED, you’re really heavy, get off me.” He wrinkled his nose, trying to be annoyed and failing. 

“Why should I? You pulled me down here.” The lanky male purposefully turned himself around, wiggling his hips against Sol’s and smirking. Sollux took that moment to shove him off the couch, sitting up with a sigh of mingled relief and disappointment. Maybe later. 

———————

It had been two weeks since that first kiss. Not exactly a long time, by any stretch of the imagination, and it had been a good time.

So what even the fuck was going on here?

Sollux ducked behind a rather large tree as the couple passed, arm in arm. He had come to the park to get a bit of overdue history homework done, but this would ruin that, apparently.

“Fuck you, Ampora, just… fuck you.” The voice was of a slightly growl-y, tenor quality, and honestly, was attractive as hell. It was connected to a pale-haired male who was currently draped over the shoulder of an extremely familiar hipster douchebag, laughing his head off. 

“That’s not very nice,” said hipster douchebag responded as Sollux dared to peer back around, horrified. Nope. This was not, by any stretch of the imagination, serious. They were friends. It was okay for friends to… no. No, it very well wasn’t fucking okay for Eridan to hold hands with someone else, let someone else climb all over him, like this mutant was doing. But he couldn’t interrupt, he was frozen behind the damn tree.

Eridan sat down on the same bridge he had on the first date with Sollux, talking to… well, it had to be that Car-Cat guy. Karkat. Yeah. The albino followed suit, dangling his legs over the edge, although they didn’t even come close to the water.

What.

What the fuck.

What in the everloving hellbent twisted dick-licking fuck were they doing. 

Sollux closed his eyes, pressing himself back against the tree, breathing shaky. Nope, this wasn’t happening. There was no way in hell this was really happening.

He hadn’t just seen his boyfriend kiss a short, annoying-sounding albino boy. 

No.

No, no, no.

This was all wrong.


	6. Chapter 6

He burst out from behind the tree, incapable of stopping himself, running straight from the park. This was too much. He heard gasps from behind him. He didn’t care. He was completely through with caring.  
His first instinct was to run home. But screw that, there was nobody there. So he made a right turn, heart pounding, and headed for AA’s place. He hadn’t seen her in months, although he tried to text her regularly. She never wanted visitors.

But he needed her. 

The screen door was hanging ajar on her house, the same as always. Sol guessed that nobody had bothered to fix it because they still didn’t have the money. They never did. He pushed through it, calling into the seemingly empty house.

“AA? Hey, AA, you around?”

“Where I always am,” came the ragged voice from a mostly closed bedroom door. He entered, doing his best not to wince at the sight of his best friend, ex-girlfriend, whatever. It had been fairly unceremonious when they had broken up, and they just kept hanging out until they were forced to admit that they really couldn’t do much without each other.

That was before she had started losing her hair. Before she grew to look brittle, no longer vibrant, with those bright red and softer copper streaks running through her blonde hair in a blatant screw-you to the school system. She looked that way today, pale and hollow. But she smiled when she saw him. “It’s been too long, Sollux. What brings you here today, of all days?”

Then she saw his face, and the smile wiped completely off of hers. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

“Well…” he sputtered, drawing closer and beginning to pace. “First off, I think I’m gay-“

“Of course you’re gay.” Aradia tilted her head a bit in amusement. “Continue.”

“Um… tho me and thith guy Ampora, he’th an exchange thtudent from Polynethia, we hit it off bigtime, and I honethtly thought we were really together, and it’th been two weekth- two. fucking. weekth. And then I’m hanging out at the park today, and he and Karkat Vantath the Albino walk patht holding handth and giggling and they go exactly where me and him went on our firtht date, and they thtarted thnogging for the whole world to thee and I jutht couldn’t take it… so I came here.” He forgot about the lisp for most of his rant, only stopping himself at the very end. “That was long, I’m sorry.”

Aradia listened in silence, occasionally nodding, and when he was done, she sighed. “That’s crushing… Sollux, I’m sorry. I think you two may have just had what is commonly known as a ‘fling.’” 

This just made him drop his head, staring at the floor. “I’m an idiot.”

“Do you still like him?”

“No shit, AA. Of course I like him. Otherwise why the fuck would I be flipping out over this?”

“Then my advice to you would just be to take him back when he inevitably asks. And make sure he never lets you go again.”

Astoundingly normal advice from the death-girl. “Is this going to turn into some shitty, dysfunctional romance movie?”

“Do you want him back?”

“… yes.”

“Then, yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's so short I'm so sorry tt.tt


	7. Chapter 7

Sollux stayed for another half an hour or so, until AA quietly informed him that she was getting tired. 

“Okay, AA. I’ll see you later.”

“You’ll have to let me know the moment he comes back. Preferably with a picture of his crying face for ever letting you go.”  
He strode out the house, feeling a bit better. He didn’t really have a plan yet, but he doubted Eridan would stay as much of a dick if he did it right back.

Time to get sneaky.

New text to Feferi Peixes

hey, ff, ii wa2 wonderiing, do you know karkat vanta2? albiino a22hole?

Oh, yeah, I know him! He’s got a bit of a reputation as a player. Why?

he may or may not have ju2t 2tolen my boyfriiend.

Oh my cod, I’m so sorry, Sollux! 

iit’2 fiine. well, not really, but whatever. iin any ca2e. ii want to get back at hiim, any good iidea2?

Lure him away from -Eridan, I would say. He doesn’t reelly stay attached long. -Eridan will be crawling back on his hands and knees!

are you and aa ju2t tryiing to turn thii2 iinto a 2oap opera?

… Maybe…

fiine, whatever. iif iit’ll get me back my fii2hdiick of a boyfriiend, ii’m up for anythiing.

Did you reely just say ‘fishdick?’ Glub, that’s so funny!

2hut up ff, iit’2 accurate a2 hell. he ii2 an ii2lander, after all.

Just go back and reel him in, already!

 

Sollux shoved his phone away, rolling his eyes. What the fuck was his life.

Time to get to know the albino asshole. 

——————

The next day at school, Sol found Karkat at lunch. He wasn’t really hard to find, with those glowing red eyes and shock-white hair. He hadn’t seen Eridan yet in the day, primarily because they only shared one class, and he refused to actively seek the bastard out. 

Karkat, naturally, was surrounded by a table of freaks. There was a boy with clownish face pain on, a girl with a white cane and red sunglasses, and a girl with black lipstick and tentacles on her shirt.

And Eridan. Well, shit. Sol almost lost his nerve right there, but he had to push through. He walked over to Karkat, hearing the tiny intake of breath from the douchebag behind him, and pointedly ignoring it.

“Hey, KK. I was wondering if you wanted to come to my place for a bit tonight.” No lisp, an amused flash of the eyes, a seductive smirk. He could pull this off. “I’ve found myself without a boyfriend, you see.”

He saw Karkat’s eyes widen for a second, looking silently back and forth between him and Eridan. Please, please, please let this go right.

“What time?” Karkat smirked, crossing his legs. “I’m always up for a fun night.”

“Just show up whenever. My place is the shitty one on Fourth.”

“Oh, that one. You got it.” Karkat winked, and Sollux walked away, feeling highly accomplished. From behind him, he could hear Karkat’s voice, a near purr. “Sorry, Eridan, you’re adorable, but you’re not much in bed. I won’t be fucking you any time soon.”

More silence, and then the scrape of a chair, running footsteps on the linoleum, and a slamming cafeteria door.

When Sollux looked behind him, Eridan was gone.

Served him right.


	8. Chapter 8

Sollux groaned quietly, rolling over to face the other direction in bed. There was not an albino asshole in his bed, there was /not/ an albino asshole in his bed…

A tiny, amused chuckle came from behind him.

Yep, there was an albino asshole in his bed.  
Finally, the sun started to rise, making Sol wish he was dead. He had not just done that. 

Yeah, he had. And it had almost, /almost/ been worth it. 

No, it hadn’t. 

“Get out of here.” His voice was cracked, tired. “Get out of my bed, get your clothes on, and between you and me, this never happened.”

Karkat just laughed again, a gravelly, sultry sound. “You fucking got it. Wouldn’t it be better if it did happen, though, to get back at your boyfriend? That is what all this shit was for, am I right?”

“You’re good,” Sollux nodded, musing. “But you’re definitely not him, and I swear to fucking God you’d better have a good reason as to why you stole him in the first place.”

“He was mine to begin with, fuckass. You were a side thing. A toy. How did you not see that in the first place?”

No. No, that wasn’t right, was /not/ true. He was not just a fling. No. Fucking. Way.

“I told you to get out, didn’t I?”

“I’m staying right the fuck here, until you’re going to listen to what I have to say.”

“Fine.” Sol crossed his arms, leaning back against the pillows propped on the headboard. “This had better be fucking good.”

“Okay, just listen. This weird islander was mine way before you even fucking saw him. I called dibs. And then he started hanging out with you. So naturally, I had to try to get him back. And it fucking worked. But not the way I expected. I kissed him, and then you ran out from behind a fucking tree and he pretty much exploded in horror, and I think you know the rest. And now I’m sitting here like a player because I got one of you in bed, and it’s not the one I wanted.”

“Are you done?” Sollux asked cautiously, cursing himself internally. “Because if that’s seriously all that happened, then I’m the most horrible boyfriend on Earth.”

“That’s seriously all that happened,” Karkat confirmed, getting out of bed and beginning to dress himself. “So do you want this to stay between us now?”

“Please. Although I’m sure rumors have already spread. Just like I fucking intended them to.” Sol put his head in his hands, worming down beneath the covers. “I am never coming out of my room again.”

“Suit yourself. He’ll come back, you know. He’s smitten as a puppy you found lost out of his fucking mind on the street one day and decided “what the hell, I’ll keep him”, and took him home and gave him food and shit until he grew up into a huge fucking dog and now you can’t get him away from you.”

Karkat pulled his shirt over his head, smirking a bit. “And he’s going to be extremely pleased whenever he makes it in here.”

Sollux felt his face heat up in embarrassment and slight, awkward pleasure. “Thanks. Now leave.”

The albino nodded and left the room, and a few moments later Sol heard the front door slam. He nuzzled into his bed, feeling used and horrible. 

He was never going to leave his room ever again. Ever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> these chapters are getting so fucking short  
> ack


	9. Chapter 9

It was Saturday, and Sollux was curled up into a ball, lying on his bed. His eyes had dark circles under them from lack of sleep. He shouldn’t feel this bad about a little black fling, but… he already hated himself enough as it is. And now everyone else probably did too. But there was really no way to know.

He hadn’t been to school in three days.  
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. First time in three days. He hadn’t really expected anyone, seeing as how his dad was /always/ gone. Couldn’t ask much more from a guy whose wife had died giving birth to a son he loathed.

It was probably him. “You can let your own fucking self in, the door’s open,” he called, hearing the rasp in his voice and shuddering. The front door creaked loudly as it swung open beyond Sol’s view, and a few moments later, a male figure strode into the room. 

A male figure wearing a purple cape.

“Sol…” he knelt down by the bed, reaching out a hand. Sollux couldn’t see too well, and it could have just been the glints coming from Eridan’s glasses, but those definitely looked like tears. “Where’ve you been? Why… why?”

Sollux just shook his head, blinking back the tears that threatened to overtake him yet again. He clutched Eridan’s hand, and found it to be shaking.

Fucking hell. “ED… oh my god, Eridan… no, no, go away, go away, I don’t… I don’t detherve…”

“Oh, shut up.”

Eridan climbed into the bed, pulling Sollux to him, and he was warm, and there were salty tears on his cheeks, and he was shaking, but he was the most solid thing Sol had ever felt. 

“I’m sorry… I overreacted… I thought you were… you and him… I just assumed… I’m so sorry…”

He buried his head in Eridan’s shoulder, curling up into him. 

“No, no, no, shh, shh…” Eridan’s hand was in his hair, stroking it, calming him down. “It’s okay, it’s all okay, calm down… it’s my fault, all my fault… I was so worried, I hadn’t seen you for days…”

“I’m fine, I’m fine. I’m so much better with you here…” Sol pulled back, studying Eridan’s face, wiping his tears away with a shaking thumb. ED smiled, moving to do the same for him. 

“Just never leave me again. Never. fuckin’. leave. You got it?” His voice was shaking, and Sol pressed his lips to ED’s, effectively silencing him.

“I got it.”

There were lips, there were glasses hastily bashing against each other. Eridan’s arms were wrapped haphazardly around his waist, his own around ED’s neck, his hands tangled into his hair. They were kissing frenziedly, Sol remembering about a minute in that he wasn’t wearing any clothes whatsoever. He pulled away, sighing slightly.

“ED, get out of here for a second, would you? I need to actually put something on, and then we’re going out.”

Eridan untangled himself slowly, kissing all over Sol’s face, seemingly unwilling to leave. “Make it quick, okay?”

Sollux nodded, pulling himself out of bed. His hair was a mess, but he wouldn’t bother to fix it right now. He pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, looking at himself in the mirror. He really did look like shit. 

Striding out into the hallway, he was greeted by the sight of Eridan in the kitchen, messing around with pots and pans and making quite the clatter. 

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“When was the last time you had anything to eat?”

Sollux pondered this for a second, before replying sheepishly. “Wednesday evening…”

“Okay, fuck, we’re gettin’ some food into you. I don’t feel like lettin’ you fuckin’ starve to death.”

“I’ve had water,” he protested, holding up his small red water bottle. “I’m fine.”

ED shook his head, opening a can of soup and starting to boil it. “Food. Now.”

“Whatever.” Sollux sat down on a stool by the counter, watching him with an extreme lack of energy. “You get to clean it up, then.”

“Done and done.”

It took about ten minutes for the soup to heat up, and ED served it to him in (predictably) a purple mug. Sol sat there, sipping it and feeling energy restore itself to his body. He really had been tired, without knowing it. 

“Maybe we could just stay in and watch TV or something…” he smiled tiredly.

“You got it.”

Sol sighed quietly, bracing himself. “Forgive me?” he muttered, hoping that maybe Eridan wouldn’t hear him.

“Yeah. I forgive you.”


	10. Epilogue

Eridan shook his head, amusement glinting in his eyes. “Sol, you have no idea what you’re talkin’ about, do you?”

“I so do,” Sollux protested, shoving his hands into his pockets. Yep, it was still there.

Well, where else would it be?

It had been five years to the day since the two had met, and Sollux was finally ready.  
“Come on, just come out with me. I swear, it’ll be worth it.”

“But I don’t even have my scarf on,” he grumbled, but reached out a hand for the coder anyways. Sol took it, smiling, glad the object was in his other pocket, and pulled ED out of the door, onto the balcony of the apartment they had been sharing for three months now.

“I’m really glad you decided to stay,” he murmured, leaning against the railing. “I mean, I know it’s been a while since then, but… I’m just so fucking glad you’re still around.”

Eridan laughed, gazing out at the lake a half mile away. “We’re in college now. It barely matters anymore. Hell, I would have come back, just to see your face again.”

“But then I wouldn’t have gotten to know you half so well, fishdick.” Sol smirked, the box in his hand making him nervous. “You know it’s been five years since we met?”

“You have to be jokin’.” ED counted on his fingers for a moment, then flashed Sol a wide grin. “You’re right. Holy fuck.” He moved to kiss Sol, but the smirking face was already gone, moved down three feet and beyond his reach. 

His knee pressed uncomfortably into the cement, and he was sure he was sweating. It didn’t matter. “Look, ED, it’s been a really fucking long time, and I’m really, really fucking sure about this, more than anything in my life. I broke myself and you fixed me, okay? You forgave me for everything, and I appreciate that. But… that’s not what I wanted to talk about. I’m… really fucking in love with you, okay? And… I was wondering…” he slowly slipped his hand out of his pocket, clutching the box. This was it. The big moment.

ED’s face above him was shining in the dark, his eyes wide, his lips slightly parted. Sol /really/ hoped that was a good thing. 

“ED, I just want you with me forever, okay? W-will you…” he gulped, trying to steady himself. “Will you marry me?”

There was a moment of silence as he flipped the box open, showing Eridan the ring inside. He had chosen it specially, saved up for two years to afford the stone. It was ametrine, set in silver. Eridan just stared for a solid minute, his mouth slowly opening and closing.

Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. “Shit, ED, I fucked it up, I’m sorry, I’m so fucking sorr-MMPH.”

Sol felt himself get hauled to his feet, felt lips smashed against his, moving in silent desperation. He kissed back, unsure what else to do.

Finally, Eridan pushed him away, gasping for breath. “Of course I’ll marry you. I’ll marry the ever-lovin’ shit out of you.”

All was right in the world.


End file.
